It was 4:10 and it would take about thirty minutes to reach the castle from London. I spotted another invitation shoved under my door as I was going to leave. This one simply had a sentence:
Please bring the original invitation.
I went to my nightstand to grab all of the requests and stuffed them into my pants pocket. Right off the bat, I caught one of the more luxurious cabs. In reality, the trip was thirty-five minutes long. At five till five the place looked empty. I was positive this was the location and as I strolled inside, I saw nothing.
I continued down the familiar corridor until I reached the main hall. The adventure we had here filled my head. Kory, the little limey boy who wanted to rescue his parents by himself; me, looking for my dad with Zatch's help; Baltro, the boxing mamodo that we had to defeat. Those were good times.
From the room ahead of me I could hear voices, sounds, and music. Slowly, I pushed the doors open; the five o'clock bell echoed in the distance. I was greeted by a short guy in a waiter's uniform. He asked for my invitation and showed me to my seat. My table was on the outskirts, you could call it. The guy, his name was Rupert, informed me that I was the only one at that table that was here—for now.
Rupert also handed me a pamphlet that described the night's activities. Dinner would be served at six and Lord Kory Bastian would be presenting himself at that time, too. There would also be a couples' competition; it consisted of various activities, including dancing and the prize was 100,000 pounds.
Few people had arrived before me, and I considered going onto the dance floor. I reconsidered just as the thought crossed my mind. I didn't know how to dance! Instead, I busied myself trying to identify someone. One girl reminded me of Li-en, and a tall man looked like Apollo.
This must've been my mind playing tricks on me because there was no way either of them could be here. People started arriving by the handfuls and the place was packed in a matter of minutes. I went to the bathroom and when I returned there were some purses at my table.
There were good and bad news about that. The good news is that the ladies who owned them weren't there at the moment. Bad news was that they would be coming soon since it was almost time for dinner. Great—I hoped there were some other guys at my table.
Along with the purses, there was a note on the place I designated as mine. It was from the Lord. "What a surprise," I thought sarcastically. The instructions were simple enough:
Please do not reveal your real name until further notice. To all who ask for it, give another name.
Not a problem because I wouldn't give my real name to a stranger, anyway. Were the same directions given to everyone else, not just me? Who was it that kept delivering these papers when I wasn't around? All these inquiries and more troubled me. But now was not the time to think them over.
Someone headed toward me and I pretended I hadn't seen them. It was a woman. Her dress was a deep blue that emphasized her pale skin. From the waist down the dress expanded and the upper part of the dress clung to her slim torso. The woman's chocolate-colored hair was up in a flurry of curls. A glittery mask covered most of her face, but left exposed her deep brown eyes and full lips.
Okay, being a guy I have to acknowledge the fact that she was pretty. I glanced at her. Fine, pretty was an understatement; this girl was gorgeous. I tried to play it cool as she sat down and turned her gaze to me. Her smile was stunning and in that instant I had the notion that she was Megumi. Her next words crushed that dream. In a friendly tone she said to me, "Bonsoir, Monsieur."
French; talk about the farthest she could possibly be from Megumi. I didn't know what to say to that since I didn't speak French. In school I'd learned English and Japanese, not French. Instead of panicking, I answered in English, "Hello."
Her eyes widened. She seemed flustered. "Oh, pardon. My English is not that good. My name is Monique." She extended a gloved hand to me. I grasped it and was surprised at how strong her grip was.
"I'm"—the last note flashed through my mind—"Tadashi. Hiro Tadashi." Phew, that was close.
She cocked her head, eyes shining brightly. "Do you—"
"All guests please return to your seats. The dinner is about to start and the Lord will be entering shortly." The PA system shut off and Monique didn't finish asking me her question. She gave a sad smile before sashaying in the other direction.
"Monique!" I called. Why had she come to talk to me if her table wasn't this one? Other people started to sit down around me and I smiled politely. There were eight of us at the table. A blonde-haired guy took the seat next to me. He grinned at me as did the others at the table. Weird? Big time.
The stage in front of us lit up—the advantage of having a table on the edge—and a man strode out from behind the curtain. He was garbed in a dark blue tux with his light brown hair spiked. His mask was black and styled like Batman's. He smiled widely before addressing the guests with the microphone positioned in the middle of the stage. "Welcome all," he started in a deep voice, "to this ball I have arranged." There was no mistaking the British accent.
"This ball is way of thanking some of you and a way to get to know the rest of you." His eyes drifted across the crowd. "I am Lord Kory Bastian, the owner of Hobark castle."
This was rather surprising; Kory had become a Lord and took ownership of the castle in just four years.
"No party would be going on tonight if it hadn't been for a bloke I met years ago. If we want to be precise, nothing would be happening if it weren't for my Mum and Dad." Chuckles filled the room in response to that joke.
"No, seriously folks, I owe much of what I have this day to my friend Kiyo Takamine." Me? I got him all of this? I was flattered, but more confused that anything. "Unfortunately, he was not able to make it to tonight."